Denon S-32 Internet Radio with Built-in Speakers and 2-Alarm Clock

by Denon

Product Details

• Item Weight: 12.4 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 18 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• Shipping Advisory: This item must be shipped separately from other items in your order. Additional shipping charges will not apply.
• ASIN: B000X3W3DG
• Item model number: S32
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (42 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #26,731 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

From the Manufacturer The Denon S-32 wireless network music system with built-in speakers and 2-alarm clock, one of Denon's first two networked audio products, delivers a smart way to play music from your computer throughout the home. The WiFi certified S-32 offers the ability to stream music either via Ethernet, or wirelessly, from internet radio sources and other network attached storage devices such as PC or Mac computers on the network. The S-32 built-in speakers were targeted to have internationally accepted sound reproduction that is excellent for music with a powerful bass response. Its mono-out allows the use of separate subwoofer of one's choice if ever required. The S-32 comes with a clock with two alarms with auto clock set-and-adjust via internet, and FM/AM radio as well as a built-in dock for iPod for easy drop-in functionality.

The Denon S-32 features a built-in dock for iPod® for easy drop-in functionality

Denon, an industry leader in home entertainment technology, presents the second generation products in its family of advanced "S-Series" integrated home entertainment systems. The S-series has been accepted with enthusiasm all over the world since its introduction. It has set a standard in a user-friendly home audio system that merged the technology for superior sound quality with a beautiful display. Denon's S-32 networked audio system features the ability to stream music wirelessly from internet radio sources and other network attached storage devices such as PC or Mac computers on the network. The Denon S-32 also features a built-in dock for iPods® for easy drop-in functionality and all the S-series has the ability to decode MP3, WMA, WAV, and AAC formats as well as those encoded in free Lossless Audio codec.

Smart Operation: Total Simplicity of Set-up and Operation

Denon engineers designed these all new S-Series systems from the ground up with the goal of fusing high-quality audio performance with elegance, ease-of-use and advanced connectivity. For simplicity of operation, users can access all features and functions of the systems either via the remote or the multi-task jog wheel on top. The S-32's high contrast graphic LCD screen is simple yet provides enough information for day-to-day activities.

Smart Network: Enjoy Music Anytime, Anywhere – Wirelessly

The WiFi certified Denon S-32 offers the ability to stream music either via Ethernet, or wirelessly, from internet radio sources and other network attached storage devices such as PC or Mac computers on the network.

Smart Sound: Simply Be Impressed By Denon's Power and Quality

The same serious engineering with passion and know-how is put into this wireless network music system to produce the best quality in its class. The Denon S-32's built-in speakers were targeted to have internationally accepted sound reproduction that is excellent for music highs and lows. Its mono-out allows the use of separate subwoofer of one's choice if ever required. Like the other S-series products with Denon's electronics engineering, Audyssey Dynamic EQ, Spatial EQ and Bass-XT turn sound into reality to give powerful bass response and special audio reproduction through its system. The S-32 comes with a clock with two alarms with auto clock set-and-adjust via internet as well as FM/AM radio.

Product Description

The Denon S-32 wireless network music system with built-in speakers and 2-alarm clock, one of Denon's first two networked audio products, delivers a smart way to play music from your computer throughout the home. The WiFi certified S-32 offers the ability to stream music either via Ethernet, or wirelessly, from internet radio sources and other network attached storage devices such as PC or Mac computers on the network. The S-32 built-in speakers were targeted to have internationally accepted sound reproduction that is excellent for music with a powerful bass response. Its mono-out allows the use of separate subwoofer of one's choice if ever required. The S-32 comes with a clock with two alarms with auto clock set-and-adjust via internet, and FM/AM radio as well as a built-in dock for iPod for easy drop-in functionality.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

77 of 81 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful sound..., August 7, 2009

By 

looking around "aworldtraveler" (Alexandria, Virginia) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Denon S-32 Internet Radio with Built-in Speakers and 2-Alarm Clock (Electronics)

I did a lot of research before I got this unit. It came down between the Philips Streamium and the Denon S32. I decided to go with the S32 because of past experiences with Philips - they make awesome products, but they have the nasty habit of canceling production AND pulling all support (Many years ago - 14 to be exact - I had a Philips Nino PDA, and all of a sudden: bye-bye! from the company!) Unlike other folks, I did read the description of this product, so I did not expect a CD nor a DVD player (weird!)

The pros: Internet radio, ability to create favorites lists - so it adds a semblance of organization to the thousands of radio stations that you can end up with! News from around the World, in their original languages. I speak several languages and this is a great way to keep the practice up! Deep rich sound, not over bassy like other systems. I love the high contrast white led display - I can read it from almost any angle (while in bed - perfect!) and you can always dim it if you think is too bright. I also really like the sleep function, I like to read before going to sleep and this function serves as a reminder!

The cons: no Mac support! What up with this???!!! Even though it says: "Plays audio stored on PC or Macintosh computers..." NOT true... I read the instructions, top to bottom and unless I missed something (or I was having too many drinks!) I did not find any mention whatsoever of Mac, anywhere, at all! - that's the 1st star off. The 2nd star off comes because of poor WiFi reception. It comes with a bitty 3db antenna, come on, for the price, they could've thrown in at least a 7db antenna! I have a "Chumby" ([...]) which is also a WiFi radio player (of sorts) and this bitty thing has much better reception than the S32 unit; I solved the problem by getting an Airport Express and extending the coverage of my Airport Extreme... kind of disappointed about the reception issue (but solved by spending $100 extra!) Another fact, but I do not consider it a negative (more or less) is that I cannot charge my iPhone on the S32 - kind of silly, when almost all iPod products coming out these days CAN charge the iPhone - but then I appreciate the peace and quiet of not having a phone in my room when I go to sleep!

Overall: Highly recommend it!

50 of 53 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars It has the features - it just does not deliver, December 5, 2009

By 

D. Pray (San Diego CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Denon S-32 Internet Radio with Built-in Speakers and 2-Alarm Clock (Electronics)

I am a tech guy and don't mind if it is difficult to setup as long as it works as described. This things menu system is not easy to use.

The manual is not well written.

Seems like some executives told some employees to add all these tech features to the radio but the employees did not understand how the tech worked.

Maybe my expectations were too high, but then the price of this item would tend to make someone have high expectations.

I didn't even get to test the ipod which I have read on here about some big cons.

Here are mine...

Pros:

Looks good

Has lots of features

Compact

Comes with a remote

Internet radio works

2 Alarms

Got on the gold box deal

Cons:

Sound Quality not even close to my 10 year old altec lansing computer speakers

Display not good

Does not work with Macs unless you buy twonky

Denon's web site states it works with iTunes, but it does not

PC Music through twonky works poorly and it unusable on a mac

Could not get wifi to work only ethernet

Jog wheel a pain to use to enter wifi password

Bass-XT - what bass? and no way to adjust

Spatial EQ - only automatic? no way to adjust.

Poor Interface and menu system

Internet radio does not show bit rate - you can hear that the bit rate is low but would be nice to see it so you can skip that station.

No time shown while playing music.

Some defects. I just expected better from Denon.

It is going back.

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Quality Internet / uPNP Radio with some limitations, December 10, 2009

By 

JB (Eastern USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Denon S-32 Internet Radio with Built-in Speakers and 2-Alarm Clock (Electronics)

The Denon S-32 is a versatile unit that contains an AM-FM radio, iPod / iPhone dock, Internet streaming radio, uPNP streaming music from a local computer or storage device, and Rhapsody player. I have had opportunity to check out most of the features except for Rhapsody, with some comments below:

AM-FM requires use of included external antennas. FM reception is adequate, but not as good as other FM radios I own; I have not really had much reason to test the AM section. The AM-FM section feels like an afterthought, but may come in handy on occasion.

iPod / iPhone Dock - iPod dock works great with my 6th Gen. Classic, and work but will not charge my iPhone 3G. The major functions I use most often (artist / album / genre, shuffle, playlists) work seamlessly on the Denon.

Internet Streaming - the S-32 gets its list of Internet station from the 3rd party vTuner service through the radiodenon web site. There are an estimated 7000 stations / podcats available, and the radiodenon site allows users to manually add stations missing from the current list or suggest additions to VTuner. I asked vTuner about the availability of a specific ESPN podcast that was missing, and received a response within a day that the podcast would be added to the list. I'm hoping I can figure out a way to add channels like Live365 / Slacker / Pandora that are available on the competing Logitech Squeezebox Boom Wi-Fi Internet Radio, but even without these I cannot complain about the variety of channels available. (Note: the S-32 can currently listen to stations in MP3 and WMA format; Real streams like the BBC feeds are not available.)

uPNP Streaming - I was able to connect the S-32 to my music library on a Synology Network Attached Storage (NAS) with uPNP server. Unfortunately, this feature does not support shuffle play and is slower / clunkier than using my iPod with the same music files. I also had several instances where the S-32 was unable to connect to the uPNP server or rebooted while trying to do so.

*Edit - the Denon S-32 documentation does not note any compatibility with uPNP, but instead specifies a computer running XP and WMP 11. I'll let others reviewers note how the Denon works with the recommended music server setup.

Sound - usually quite good considering the physical size of the unit, but on some music the sound can get a get "boomy." This unit would benefit greatly from some sort of bass and treble adjustment.

Other - this unit is a beast, weighing in at over 13 pounds, and has no battery option; I will lug it out to my patio or garage on occasion, but this unit is best as a stationary tabletop radio. The remote is fine, and the backlit display is a nice feature.

Overall - I'm pleased with feature set of the S-32, though I'm hoping that future firmware updates will improve the performance of uPNP streaming. It certainly helped that I was able to take advantage of a great Black Friday deal on the S-32, but even at regular price it is worth a look. Compare this radio to the Logitech Squeezebox products and see what features of each appeal to you.

Edit - I've now had the opportunity to compare this to the Squeezebox Boom. The Denon can get louder before distorting, though at moderate volume levels both sound pretty good. It also has an iPod dock the Squeezebox lacks. But the Squeezebox is more portable, has a better display, includes bass and treble adjustments, offers services like Live365 and the BBC that the Denon lacks, and IMHO has a much better user interface. The Squeezebox also does such a good job at streaming my music collection that an iPod doesn't really seem necessary anymore. The Denon is still a 4-star unit, but in comparison the Squeezebox Boom gets a solid 5 stars from me.